Interview with Stormtrack founder and long-time storm chaser David Hoadley

[Shane Adams]

Roy Britt has posted a fantastic, in-depth interview with ST founder & pioneering storm chaser David Hoadley. This is a two-part interview, and you can access part two from the part one page. Thanks to Roy and David for this wonderful, insightful offering....

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[Adam Lucio]

He's an awesome character. Humble and passionate. We've exchanged words a few times and I always appreciated the time a man of his experience took to talk to a noob like me. Its amazing after all those years his first killer tornado was El Reno.

 

[johnserpa]

I met David in his home in 2012, it was a delightful conversation. Seeing his chase logs from the 1950's was inspiring!

 

[Ric Burney]

Thanks Shane for sharing.

 

[Chris C Sanner]

Incredible guy, everyone who chases should watch this. Seriously gives you an appreciation for what we have today and where the hobby has come from.

 

[Warren Faidley]

For those chasers who have never met Dave Hoadley, I would suggest you do so someday. He is the true father of storm chasing and more so, represents what storm chasing was, should be and how it should be conducted, with professionalism and respect. There was a time, many years ago, that running into Dave was major event that chasers talked about for days. In fact, I once saw a NWS forecast discussion with the header "Dave Hoadley has been spotted in Nebraska - the tornado season has officially begun!

Warren

 

[Scott Taylor]

Incredible guy, everyone who chases should watch this. Seriously gives you an appreciation for what we have today and where the hobby has come from.

Couldn't agree more... this is WELL worth the time to sit, watch and enjoy. I'm thankful to David for taking time to share his stories with us. Well done guys.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Thanks for sharing Shane. What an awesome interview, and what an awesome guy.

 

[Brett Roberts]

It's humbling to think that I'm entering my ninth chase season and no longer feel like a noob, yet this man has chased for more than 5x as long as I have!

What really struck me from this interview is how relatively "hardcore" David's chasing was even in the 50s and 60s. I mean, it's one thing for us millennials to chase 20+ days per year and drive through multiple states. We have an incredible wealth of data, technology and understanding, and there's a whole community of fellow chasers to normalize this relatively unusual behavior. David had none of those things back then. There was no precedent whatsoever, and I'm sure every single person who knew about his hobby looked at him like he had two heads (he implied as much a few times in the video). That this didn't deter him at all -- and that it wasn't just casual backyard chasing, as I'd assumed before, but multi-state treks and late night interstate marathons home back in the late 50s -- is a testament to his passion and unconditional willingness to pursue it. I admire that trait above almost all others in a person. We live in a world where the large majority are far too content to follow the herd in every facet of life, and David represents the other extreme. No matter what type of chaser you are, I think he deserves all of our respect and gratitude for blazing the trail for a hobby that's enhanced our lives so much.

On a lighter note, I laughed my ass off at the story about choosing his post after intelligence school (24:20 in the first video). That feeling of having to make life choices to accommodate chasing that shock everyone around you is pretty much a universal experience for us, and it's hilarious to think how doubly true that would have been in 1966.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I should also note that Dave is quite the artist. In the original print versions of Stromtrack (I still have my collection), he produced a chase-related cartoon called "Funnel Funny." It would be great if someone could post those cartons here (with permission) as they are as timely as ever.

W.

 

[Steve Burrows]

Thanks for uploading this, well worth the watch. Learnt a lot about early chasing, its fascinating!

 

[George Tincher]

This has been one of the more genuinely interesting things pertaining to severe weather and storm chasing that I've been exposed to in years. One can only imagine how special it must have been to pioneer and perfect the art of storm chasing. This video interview provides some great insight on that. Pioneers such as David Hoadley and Neil Ward must have at times felt as if the atmosphere was providing them with their own personal show. It really is hard to imagine tornadoes tracking across tornado alley with only one or two people in the entire nation actually out there pursuing them! But those early guys got to experience that every time they went out. And outside what data they could gather from local weather offices, about the only source of data they had access to were AM radio and what they could glean from watching the sky (Ward, being the first scientific chaser...did at least have some basic outside support at times, including highway patrol radio guidance and what not) . Yet they were enormously successful. I was and remain in awe of what guys like David Hoadley and Neil Ward were able to accomplish in an era of "no tech". It is amazing really.